Spindle



(No Model.)

W.- P. DRAPER- SPINDLE. No. 245,286. Patented Aug. 9,1881.

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Nrrnn STATES PATENT f- Ferca.

WILLIAM F. DRAPER, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPINDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,286, dated August 9, 1881,

Application filed April 21, 1881. (N0 model.)

scription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This my invention in spindles for rin g-spinning machines is represented as embodied in that class of spindles having a sleeved whirl, and wherein the lower end of the spindle is surrounded by a bolster which may yield laterally, thus permitting the spindle and bobbin, and yarn laid thereon, to find and revolve about their natural center of rotation, thus obvatin g gyration and wear, and enabling the spindle to run at high speed.

In spindles of this class heretofore in use the lower end of the spindle has always been extended below the lower end ot' the whirl, and the spindle has generally been extended as far below the center of the whirl as the yielding bolster extends above the center of the whirl, so as to bring the band-pull substantially at the center ofthe yielding bolster, thus necessitating a considerable length ot' spindle between the top and bottom ot' the bearing or bearings for the spindle. To enable this bearing portion or pintle ot' the spindle to withstand the strain of doffm g and other extraordinarystrains in excess of that.\vhich would be produced by the band when driving a spindle, or that arising from an ordinary unbalanced load on the said spindle, it has been found necessary to make this bearing portion of the spindle ot' much greater diameter than would be required if the spindle were subjected only to the strains ot' running. Any increase in diameter of bearing proportionately increases the amount ot1 power required to drive the spindle, and vice versa, which is a matter of the greatest importance, for Vthe power required to run the spindles is estimated by the best authorities to be about one-third of that required to run all the machinery in a cotton-mill.

I have discovered by a system ot" experiments that if the bearing or pintle portion of the spindle is shortened, so as to terminate substantially opposite the pull of the band of the whirl, the said portion ofthe spindle may spindle and bolster reduces to the minimum that effect of the band-pull which tends to prevent the spindle from assuming its natural center.

It is evident that with the band-pull above the bottom ot' the spindle any attempt of the spindle to center itself under an unbalanced load has to encounter the resistance of the strain ofthe band, while by bringing the Whirl opposite the foot ofthespindle slight variations in the position of the spindle do not lengthen or shorten the band to any appreciable extent.

A boy can spin a top much more successfully by'winding his string` on a pulley neat the bottom than near the upper end thereof', and the nearer to the bottom the better. Both by reasoning and experiment Il am satised that this principle holds true with spindles of this-class, and that besides the saving ofpower,

as heretofore explained, the steadiness ot' rotation of the spindle will be increased by the changes l have indicated.

To enable me to employ a spindle with its bearing portion so shortened I have shortened the bolster and elevated that bearing which sustains the weight ot' the spindle, usually called the step, to a position substantially in the line ot' the band-pull, which, it. is obvious, may readily be done whether the bolster and step are made as separate pieces, as in the Rabbeth patent, No. 227,129, or in the Birkenhead patent, No. 234,522, though the former is deemed the much best plan in practice.

In my experiments I have also found that the stiff sleeve part ot the spindle may be made to receive and resist the extraordinary strain above referred to, so that the bearing portion of the spindle cannot be permanently, bent in dofting. To accomplish this desired object I have made and supported the bearing for the spindle in the bolster-supporting tube, so that sufficient space is allowed for the bolster to yield freely to all the running-strains, and the diameter ofthe opening in the whirl is of such IOO size as not to touch the said supporting-tube when the spindle is subjected to only runningstrain; but on the occurrence of the extraordinary strains referred to the inside of the whirl or sleeve willcome in contact with the said supporting-tube before the bearing portion of the spindle is subjected to such strain as would permanently bend it. By these changeslhave been enabled to reduce the diameter of the bearing portion ofthe spindle nearly one-halt' beyond what is practiced in modern spindles of this class,thus making a very great saving in power.

Figure l represents, in partial vertical section, a sleeve-whirled spindle embodying my invention, the bobbin thereon being in section. Fig. 2 is a view thereof showing the sleeve part of the spindle as operative to receive the strain, which, were it not for the sleeve, would be received bythe bearin g'portion ofthe spindle.

VThe fixed rail a, common to ring-spinning frames, has secured to it in the usual way the bolster-supporting tube b, having within it the spindle-supporting step c, on which the spindle rests and moves as it finds its true center, and also the yielding and movable bushing d. (Shown in the drawings as surrounded by an elastic or yielding medium or packing, e, placed between the bushing and the interior of the sul'iporting-tube.)

As so far described, the said devices, irrespective of their relative positions and sizes, as hereinafter more fully explained, are all substantially as in spindles now known and in use-as, for instance, in United States Patent No. 227,129; but instead of the exact form of spindlesupporting step, bolster, and yielding bearing shown in the drawings, I may employ the form of step and yielding bearing shown and described in United States Patent No. 234,522, or, instead ofthe step and bolster devices referred to and shown, I may employ an y other well-known form of yielding bearing and step now used in connection with spindles in stunning-frame holsters and steps devised to permit the bearing portion of the spindle and its bolsterbearing, or its bolster and step bearing, to yield and enable the spindle to find its natural center of rotation and obviate gyration and wear of the spindle and enable it to be run at the high rate of speed at which modern improved spindles ot' the Sawyer and Rabbeth patents are now commonly run.

The spindlefhasconnected with it the usual sleevewhirl, g, grooved to receive the drivingband of usual construction, which rotates the spindle in the usual manner.

In other spindles of this class heretofore made having yielding bushings, so far as Iam aware, the bearing portion at the lower end of the spindle has been extended as far below the center of the whirl as the yielding bolster has been made to extend above the center ot' the whirl, so as to bring the band-pull substantially at the middle of the bushing, and the said bearing portion has been usually at least nine thirty-seconds of an inch in diameter, to

otl'er suiicient strength or stiffness of spindle to prevent the spindle being permanently bent out of true when subjected to extraordinary strain, such as when doiing, or strains other than those to which the spindle is subjected when running and doing regular work.

The bearing or pintle portion j ot' my improved spindle is shortened, so that its lower end terminates substantiallyin the line of the band-pull, and the diameter of the said end portion is reduced to about one-eighth of an inch, thus greatly reducing the power required to drive the spindle. The step c is elevated, so that it also comes substantially in the line ofthe pull ofthe band.

To enable the stiE sleeve partof the spindle to receive and resist the extraordinary strains referred to, I have made the diameter of the opening within the sleeve-whirl ot' such size with relation to the external diameter of the supporting-tube that theinteriorof the sleevewhirl will not touch the tube under anystrain or pull of the band exerted or demanded in running the spindle for spinning; but on the occurrence of any extraordinary strain in excess ofrunning-strain-as, for instance, when doing-the'interior of the whirl will strike the tube before the elastic oryielding bushing nishes its movement in the same direction within the tube, and thus I am enabled to ob viate the application to the bearingportion of the spindle of as great strain as would be apt to permanently bend it.

Fig. 2 shows the spindle tipped over, as will usually be the case when doiing,and to avoid permanently bending the small or reduced bearing portion j, the interior of the sleeve-whirl is of such diameter as to strike the supportingtube just before the spindle is subjected to such extraordinary strain as would be apt to bend it so far as to make the said bend permanent. The entire side strain ofthe band is not applied solely to a spot exactly bpposite the bottom of the groove in the whirl, but is substantially at such. In spindles driven by a gear the bevel-gear on the spindle has been connected with the spindle nearits lower end, as in United States Patent No. 43,153, to Gilman; but in all such cases the point of the spindle has been rigidly heldin its step-bearing, and the spindle has also had a rigid bolster-bearing above the gear, so that there was no opportunity for the spindle to tind and run in its natural center of rotation when unbalanced or carrying an unbalanced load.

The bolster-bearin gs will preferably in practice be slightly tapered externally, growing larger toward its bottom; or the packing may be made a little more dense immediately opposite the baud-pull,so as to resist in proportion to the strain any tendency of the band to draw the spindle laterally toward one side of the supporting-tube. The bolster-bearin g portion of the spindle should, in all cases, be made cylindrical.

The capacity' of the sleeve and supportingtube to protect the pintle j is due to the cir- IOO IOS

IIO

IIS

cumstance that the pintle is shortened, as.de scribed,whereby any deflection of the spindle from the vertical necessarily causes the sleeve and tube to bring up before any strain can come upon the pintle. 1f the pintle were longerthis result could not be accomplished practically, it being a question of relative leverage.

I claiml. The sleeve whirled spindle having the lower end of' its bearing or pintlej terminated substantially opposite the pull ofthe spindledriving band, combined with a yielding bolster and external support for it and a step to support the weight ot' thespindle, as set forth.

2. The sleeve-whirled spindle having` the lower end ot'the bearing or pintlej located substantially opposite the pull of the band on the whirl, combined with a step, also located sub stantiallyin the same line to support the Weight of the spindle, substantially as described.

3. The spindle reduced in size in its entire bearing portion, as specified, and its attached sleeve-Whirl having,` an internal opening of sufcient diameter to turn about, but not come in contact with, the supporting-tube for the spindle during running, combined with the yielding bolster and spindle-supporting tube, of such diameters as to arrest the movement of the whirl, as described, when the spindle is subjected to extraordinary strain referred to in dofting, before the spindle is permanently bent, substantially as described.

4. A sleeve-Whirl spindle the supportingpintle of which terminates substantially in a plane coinciding with the plane of the bandgroove of the whirl, combined with ayielding bearing for the pintle and a supporting-tube for the same, as hereinbefore described, Wherebyany strainsincident to the undue deflection of the spindle from the vertical will be sustained by the supporting-tube and sleeve, instead of by the pintle, substantially as described.

lu testimony Whereofl have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. F. DRAPER. Witnesses:

F. J DUTGHER, GEO. A. DRAPER. 

